Capacitor discharge-type ignition systems have been used to start spark ignited internal combustion engines. Generally, these ignition systems have a stator assembly with an ignition coil having primary and secondary windings and a charge coil received around a ferromagnetic core. A permanent magnet assembly mounted on a flywheel of the engine generates pulses within the charge coil as the permanent magnet is rotated past the ferromagnetic core. The current pulses produced in the charge coil are used to charge a capacitor which is subsequently discharged through the primary winding to induce a current in the secondary winding sufficient to cause a spark across a spark gap of a spark plug to ignite a fuel and air mixture within an engine cylinder combustion chamber to power the engine.
Examples of capacitor discharge type ignition systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,753 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,887. In these systems, a somewhat high engine speed must be obtained before sufficient current pulses are generated in the charge coil and transferred to the capacitor to charge the capacitor sufficiently such that when discharged, a spark is generated across the spark gap of a spark plug. Thus, these prior ignition systems have a relatively high minimum rotary speed at which the ignition system will produce a spark in the gap of the spark plug to start the engine.